Chapter 24 #2
"Can't I?" I look at them, really look at them. "I made a choice, Royce. I chose to push through the pain, to ignore what my body was telling me. And it cost me everything I wanted."
Royce is quiet for a moment, their thumb rubbing small circles on the back of my hand. It's soothing in a way I can't quite explain.
"You know what I think? I think you're exactly where you're supposed to be. If you hadn't gotten injured, you wouldn't have taken over this team. You wouldn't be here right now. You wouldn't be…" They trail off, a faint blush coloring their cheeks.
"Wouldn't be what?" I prompt, my heart rate picking up.
"You wouldn't be with me. And I know we're still figuring this out, and I know I said I'm keeping my guard up, but Kenny, I can't imagine my life without you in it anymore. Even if nothing had happened between us, I wouldn’t have come out of this the same way I came into it.
So maybe that injury wasn't a tragedy. Maybe it was just redirecting you to where you needed to be. "
The words hit me square in the chest, and for a moment I can't breathe. Because no one has ever said anything like that to me before. No one has ever looked at my biggest failure and suggested it might have been necessary.
"Your Majesty,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper. "You can't just say things like that when we're at work."
A smile tugs at their lips. "Why not?"
"Because it makes me want to kiss you, and we agreed to keep things professional during business hours."
They lean in closer, and I get lost in their eyes. "Did we? I don't recall agreeing to any such thing."
"Royce," I warn, but there's no heat in it.
"Kenneth," they counter, their voice dropping into that commanding tone that makes my stomach flip. "If you want to kiss me, then kiss me."
I don't need to be told twice.
I lean forward, closing the miniscule distance between us, and capture their mouth with mine. The kiss is softer than the ones from the other night, less desperate and more tender. Like we're taking our time now, learning each other at a different pace.
When we pull apart, Royce is smiling, their hand cupping my jaw.
"For what it's worth," they murmur, "I think you would have made an incredible professional player. But I'm selfish enough to be glad you're here instead."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." They kiss me again, quick and sweet. "Now, we should probably get back to work before someone walks in and catches us making out in your office."
"Our office. It's as much yours as it is mine now. Soon it won’t be mine at all."
Their expression softens. "Our office," they agree.
We settle back into our respective seats, but the atmosphere has shifted. It's warmer now, more intimate, like we've crossed some invisible threshold by sharing that story.
"So," Royce says, pulling up a new document on their tablet. "Staffing adjustments for the next game. I'm thinking we move Jernigan to the third-base concessions and bring in two of the part-timers as well to give them the support they need."
"Sounds good. What about the parking situation? We had some complaints about the wait times after the game."
They glance up at me, a playful smirk on their face. "I talked to security about it. They're going to add another attendant at the main exit. Unless you have a better idea, hotshot pitcher?"
I throw a pen at them. They catch it easily, laughing.
"Careful, Little Menace," they say, their voice dropping into that Dom tone that makes my cock twitch. "Keep that up, and I'll have to punish you later."
"I’ll believe it when I see it," I shoot back, even though my face is definitely heating up.
"Oh, it's a promise. Now, I need to go check on the maintenance crew. Will you be okay here on your own, or do you need supervision?" They stand, tucking their tablet under their arm.
"I think I can manage not to destroy anything in the next hour."
"Good boy." They lean down, pressing a kiss to the top of my head before heading toward the door. "I'll see you at lunch. And Kenny?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you for telling me about your injury. I know that wasn't easy."
They're gone before I can respond, leaving me alone in the office with a stupid smile on my face and a warmth in my chest that has nothing to do with the temperature.
I turn back to my laptop, trying to focus on the spreadsheets in front of me, but my mind keeps drifting back to Royce. To the way they listened without judgment, the way they reframed my biggest failure as a meaningful event.
My phone buzzes with a text.
Royce: Also, for the record, I find the whole "injured college athlete" thing incredibly sexy. Just thought you should know.
I laugh out loud, my fingers flying over the keyboard.
Kenneth: You're terrible.
Royce: You wouldn’t have me any other way.
And the thing is, I wouldn’t. I love their teasing, their dominance, the way they take care of me without making me feel weak. I love how they challenge me and support me in equal measure.
I'm falling for them. Hard.
Maybe I already have. I’ve wanted them for so long, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say I was already both feet in before our first kiss even happened.
The thought should terrify me. We're still so new, still figuring out what this is between us.
But instead, it just feels right.
Like Royce said, maybe everything happened exactly the way it was supposed to. Maybe my injury wasn't the end of my story. Maybe it was just the beginning.